Snapchat hit with Dutch probe over online sale of vapes to minors

Published on 09/09/2025 - 17:08 GMT+2

The Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has opened an investigation into societal media exertion Snapchat connected suspicion of breaching nan EU’s online level rules for allowing nan waste of physics cigarettes, aliases vapes, to minors, nan authority said successful a statement today.

The move follows a title filed by Dutch doctors precocious past month, for nonaccomplishment to return measures to prohibition nan waste of forbidden physics cigarettes, aliases vapes, which they declare is successful breach of nan EU’s online level rules - nan Digital Services Act (DSA).

The doctors, united done nan group Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd (SRPJ), said they had contacted Snap connected nan issue, asking for improvements to nan company’s policy, but that their investigation recovered that youngsters could easy proceed to bargain nan products.

ACM committee personnel Manon Leijten said successful a connection that nan accusation provided gives “sufficient logic to commencement an investigation into imaginable violations of nan DSA rules by Snapchat."

The Netherlands introduced a prohibition connected nan waste of flavoured vapes – often marked arsenic a safer replacement to accepted cigarettes - successful January 2024, and income to minors are besides prohibited. 

Under nan DSA – whose rules purpose to combat forbidden contented and products online – an online level must return nan correct measures to sufficiently guarantee nan protection of minors. ACM will now analyse whether Snapchat – which has its EU office successful Amsterdam – does that. 

The regulator said it is successful adjacent interaction pinch nan European Commission.

Since nan institution is considered 1 of nan 25 Very Large Online Platforms (VLOP) nether nan DSA – those pinch much than 45 cardinal monthly mean users successful Europe – nan Commission is successful complaint of enforcement.

In November 2023, nan EU executive sent formal requests for accusation nether nan DSA to Snap connected nan protection of minors, arsenic good arsenic connected nan creation of their recommender systems. A Commission spokesperson could antecedently only corroborate that Snapchat has replied to nan questions.

Snap said successful an earlier connection to Euronews that it “invested immense resources to extremity bad actors from abusing our level and to amended Snapchatters."